Colin Quinn apparently caught a popup in foul territory, St. Rita players and coaches surged out of the dugout and Joliet Slammers personnel set off fireworks to celebrate what appeared to be a Mustangs’ state baseball title on June 13.
But it wasn’t.
The ball squirted out of Quinn’s mitt, the first-base umpire emphatically signaled no catch and four pitches later, Triad”s Carter Gaskill hit a game-tying, three-run homer over the right-field wall.
But the Mustangs’ celebration was repeated an inning later when Vinny Stubitsch hit a sacrifice fly into foul territory down the right-field line, scoring courtesy runner JJ Quinlan and giving St. Rita an unforgettable 12-11, eight-inning win at Slammers Stadium.
It was the first title for a Mustangs’ program whose documented history goes back to 1923, when Lefty Sullivan coached them to a 5-2 record.
“I’m just so happy for our community, so happy for our baseball program, so happy for all the guys who wore the uniform before us, the guys that coached before us,” said St. Rita coach John Nee, who is in his 29th year at the school. “All the hard work that those guys put in to get us to this point.
“And for this group to get us over the hump — and it’s been a big hump — for us to get over this hump, this was the group to do it. We were built for this. That’s all we ever talked about. And you know what, we faced adversity today … (but) didn’t let that affect us. We found a way.”
A video of the disputed popup posted on X by the Sun-Times’ Michael O’Brien went viral, getting more than 186,000 views in less than two hours.
“I have seen the video,” Quinn said later. “I caught it, then I took my eye off it and then it came down, obviously in the video. So I mean, it is what it is. Kind of like (my) heart started to jump a little bit, especially after the (Triad) home run.”
But then in the bottom of the eighth, Quinn led off with a single. After a sacrifice, an intentional walk to Jayden Ibarra and a single by Luke Arteaga, Stubitsch ended it.
Stubitsch finished 3-for-5 with his second home run of the season — a three-run shot to left that erased a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the first — two runs and three RBIs.
Could he have imagined having a game like that in the state championship?
“Oh no,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I’ve been struggling at the plate for the past week or two. Just a couple extra swings before the game today with my hitting coach gave me an extra edge today. And (it was) just not letting the atmosphere and all the nerves get to me. Just focus on one pitch, one play at a time.”
St. Rita starting pitcher Will Rewers took a similar approach, though he had a long stretch between pitches. The game was delayed by rain for 63 minutes before the top of the fourth, but Rewers came back out and threw another 2 1/3 innings before giving way to winning pitcher Nick Cegielski.
“I was pretty confident that I was going back in,” Rewers said. “Everybody was telling me, ‘Stay loose,’ so I was stretching for that hour. It may have been the longest hour of my life waiting to get back out there.”
The Mustangs (30-12) led 11-4 after five innings, but Triad (36-6) scored three in the sixth to pull within 11-7 before the wild top of the seventh.
And an inning after that, the Mustangs were champions.
“Obviously … you’re a little mad that what happened, happened,” Stubitsch said of the no-catch call. “But we faced hardships all year, especially going through the (Catholic League) Blue, and things could happen in the blink of an eye. But we’ve just got to reset and then just after that, just focus on the next pitch, next play and try to help your team out the best you can.”
He did, and it was enough to make St. Rita history.